Blind Contour Drawing

The Blind Contour technique described in this online drawing lesson is an easy and fun way to improve your overall drawing ability.

When creating a Blind Contour drawing you are literally drawing blind. This doesn't mean you close your eyes however! What it does mean is that you will only be looking at your object, not at your paper, during the entire process. Try not to peek at your drawing until after it's completed.

For this reason, blind contour drawings tend to have a quirky and abstract look to them. This is totally normal!

While you draw, try not to worry what your drawing looks like. The goal of blind contour drawing is not to make a perfect drawing, but to train your hand to copy your eye's movements.

Blind Contour Drawing Lessons, things to remember:

While you draw, look only at the object, NOT at your drawing.

Keep your pen or pencil in CONSTANT contact with the page.

Draw slowly. If it helps, close one eye while you draw.

Whenever several lines meet, simply choose a direction and reconnect those lines later.

Concentrate on practicing your hand-eye coordination instead of worrying about the look of your drawing.

Keeping your eyes on the subject matter while you draw ensures that you are exercising your hand-eye coordination. However, this rule is unique to blind contour drawing. Don't confuse blind contour line with other types of contour line drawing. You can, and should look at your paper when creating a regular contour line drawing.

For this exercise contour lines can include: outlines, wrinkles, palm lines, fingernails, shadows & highlights. Basically, anything that can be drawn as a line.

Draw slowly. If it helps, close one eye while you draw.

Your hand makes a great subject matter for contour drawing because it has lots of lines for you to draw. However, you don't have to draw every single line. It will be up to you to choose which lines to omit.

Whenever several lines meet, you will have to decide which direction to take. You can reconnect those cross-roads later by coming back to them from the other direction.

Keep your pen or pencil in constant contact with the paper! If you come to a dead end, simply retrace the line or cross over (drawing an imaginary line) to where you want to be.

Any smooth drawing surface. You can buy a quality drawing pad at a local art supply store or simply use typing paper.

Be aware that some markers can bleed through paper so make sure to protect whatever is underneath!

The more you practice blind contour drawing the better your hand-eye coordination will become. You may find that your blind contour drawings begin to make more visual sense with continued practice.

Once you have mastered drawing your hand you can move on to other objects such as faces, plants, furniture, pets, feet and more. Blind contour drawings are always fun, one-of-a-kind, and possess a quirky character that is unique to the blind contour technique.